Platt Discovery Cottage

Waldorf Myths

January 27th, 2010

I really loved this post.  I call myself “Waldorf-inspired” because there is so much about Waldorf I don’t understand and some of Waldorf I don’t care to understand.  So, I’m not true Waldorf in any way, but I do love so much of what I do know about it, that I incorporate what I understand and love into my homeschool. 

I was so pleased to come across this post about Waldorf Myths written by a Waldorf teacher.

I loved the story about the girl who couldn’t do her maths because all she saw was gnomes.  I have used math stories but I didn’t emphasize the math gnomes overly much because I didn’t really understand it.  I just couldn’t put math and gnomes together well enough to put together any stories.  I did use the gnome stories to introduce the general concept of add, subtract, multiply and divide; beyond that, we just ‘do math’.  I’ll talk more about that in another post.

I will admit that the introduction of math using stories involving gnomes worked well for Fuss and he still refers back to them to remember what each does, which is nice.  At least the introduction was gentle even if I couldn’t follow it through.

Moving on to another point in the post, I love circle time.  We do it every morning and it is a lovely way to start our day.  It brings us together and focuses both children on the day ahead.  I notice a huge difference in circle time days and non-circle time days.  I find it interesting that this post claims it is not a “Steiner” thing.  I don’t really care who came up with it, I’m just really glad I encountered it!

Moving on, I like his view on drugs.  Rather than say it doesn’t happen in Waldorf schools, he challenges us to think of it in a “law of attraction” sense.  If we assume teenagers will experiment with drugs, that is what we will get.  If we assume the teens will not do so, that may also be what we will get.  This feels so much better to me.  We are certainly not at the drug experimentation stage, however we would be at the bully stage.  I was having coffee with a friend who has a daughter in one of the local Waldorf schools.  She was expressing concerns about the bullying going on.  I was surprised.  I just thought that wouldn’t happen at a Waldorf school - all that fresh air would counteract it maybe!  However she said it is a horrible problem in her daughter’s class; not so much physical bullying, but psychological.  I found that very interesting.

His last point is about Waldorf dolls.  My children do start out with a tied-knot doll as he suggests is a true Waldorf doll.  And, once they are older, I do get a proper “Waldorf doll” - the kind he says are not at all Waldorf, but whatever.  And, contrary to what you are learning about me in earlier posts, they do not have anything to do with Martha Stewart!!  Honestly, I can see absolutely no correlation between Stewart and Steiner!

Enjoying the journey,  Amanda

Entry Filed under: This N That